Rupert Neethling ‘This is what the Internet should be all about,” declared a friend back in 1997 on discovering instant messaging (IM). He was already a cyber veteran, but IM finally allowed him to converse with online friends in real time. IM software allows you to see when a friend goes online, following which you can send each other text messages and share files more or less instantly. If you have a sound card, microphone and speakers, the latest IM programs will also allow you to participate in voice chats. Some of the biggest names in IM today are AOL Instant Messenger (Aim), ICQ, Odigo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, PowWow and Alta Vista Messenger. All of these programs are free. To help you decide on a particular package, we’ll look at three factors. The major characteristics that set different IM clients apart include the number of users, core features and suitability for work or leisure.
Looking at the number of users, reports show that Aim and ICQ combined account for 90% of the total IM user base, or about 100-million users. But if you choose one of these, you can’t talk to people who use the other. You could get both, of course, but Odigo Messenger can currently talk to Aim, ICQ and Yahoo! Messenger. The Aim connection is not 100% reliable since AOL often blocks it, but you can usually download a patch from the Odigo website to circumvent new blocks. PowWow/Alta Vista Messenger (basically the same program) can also talk to MSN Messenger and, supposedly, to Aim. Besides text-based messaging and being able to see when people on your contact list go online, core features should include voice chat, file transfers, basic privacy protection and group chats. The latest versions of the above programs offer support for PC-to-PC voice chats, although ICQ can only manage this via extra plug-ins. They can also manage file transfers and let you block messages from unruly chatters. Two IM programs stand out for the easy access they offer in respect of group-chat functions: Aim and Yahoo! Messenger. PowWow and Odigo also earn a mention, while MSN Messenger needs fellow Microsoft product NetMeeting for most group-related functions.
As for their suitability for work and/or leisure, most of the reviewed programs straddle the line. Yahoo! Messenger is a good example of a program that tries to offer the best of both worlds with features like stock updates, a Web calendar and easy conferencing on the one hand, and Yahoo! Personals with a cute heart icon on the other.
MSN Messenger and Aim are suitable for business thanks to their modern, easy-to- use interfaces and the fact that they are already installed on so many computers. The latest versions of both clients also support PC-to-phone calls, although the Aim version was still being tested at the time of writing. Obviously, support for firewalls and/or proxies is another important consideration for business users. Most of the applications reviewed here (except for PowWow/Alta Vista Messenger, which can work behind a firewall if the setting are changed, but not a proxy server) can be configured to traverse firewalls or connect via a proxy. Depending on the circumstances, such a setup may limit you to text messages. You may also need to make manual adjustments to get such advanced features to work properly. Because they’ve been around the longest, ICQ and PowWow are the most well-endowed when it comes to extra chatting paraphernalia. Visit their websites for more details. Odigo Messenger’s main focus is unquestionably on fun. The most graphically rich messenger featured here, it is geared strongly towards surfing. Odigo lets you jump to the websites where other users are congregating and request chats with them, post notes on pages for fellow users to read and more. It also lets you search for contacts by way of a detailed list of interests. M-Web’s Messenger is powered by Odigo.
Other considerations aside, it is probably the program interface that will sway you the most. For pure, simple elegance my vote is for MSN Messenger, while Odigo is certainly the funkiest of the lot. With the exception of the PC-based PowWow, all the programs below are available for both PCs and Apple Macs. l AOL Instant Messenger – 2,2MB www.aol.com/aim/home.
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l AltaVista Messenger – 3,47MB tools.altavista.com/s?s page=t/mess.htm l ICQ 2000 – 6,15MB www.icq.com
l MSN Messenger – 646Kb messenger.msn.com
l Odigo Messenger – 3,35MB www.odigo.com
l PowWow – 2,77MB www.tribal.com
l Yahoo! Messenger – 1,29MB messenger.yahoo.com